Saturday, March 25, 2006

A More Spectacular Failure

Texas wasn't the only incredible example of crashing and burning today -- the SpaceX rocket failed in its first attempted launch today. Apparently there was a fuel leak that shut the rocket down before it could reach orbit.

But that's not the cool part.

The cool part is that the rocket landed just 250 feet away from the launch pad on a coral reef and is at least partly salvageable. 250 feet after almost getting into space!

But even that isn't the really cool part.

The really cool part is that the satellite that was on top of the rocket, the payload it was trying to put into orbit, got ejected from the crash and flew way up in the air and then crashed through the roof of the machine shop of the rocket company, landing on the very floor where some of its parts were made! How's that for an unlikely shot!

A big ol' rocket crashes and its payload busts a hole in a machine shop. If there's a better example of tech geek meeting bubba I almost can't imagine it.

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